In the quiet community of Dixon, Mississippi, a beloved 69-year-old woman, Brenda Strickland Pinter, met a tragic and untimely end. On the evening of Thursday, February 23, 2017, she was found inside the Dixon Baptist Church, a place where she had gone to clean. When she did not return home as expected, her concerned husband went to the church to look for her, only to make a devastating discovery.
Pinter was found shot to death, sending shockwaves through the peaceful Neshoba County community.
The initial investigation by the Neshoba County Sheriff's Department revealed that there were no signs of forced entry at the church, and a weapon was not recovered at the scene. In the days that followed, a person of interest emerged: Alex Bridges Deaton. It soon became clear that Pinter's death was part of a larger, violent crime spree. Authorities also linked Deaton to the murder of his girlfriend, Heather Robinson, in Rankin County and a non-fatal shooting of a jogger.
A multi-state manhunt for Deaton ensued, involving law enforcement agencies from Mississippi to Kansas. The search came to a dramatic end on March 1, 2017, when Deaton was apprehended in Kansas after a police pursuit that ended in a fiery crash. During his flight from the law, Deaton was also accused of a carjacking and another shooting in New Mexico. Following his capture, Deaton was extradited back to Mississippi to face a litany of charges, including the murder of Brenda Strickland Pinter. Ultimately, justice was served when a man pleaded guilty to her murder and was sentenced for the crime.
